[Tony]

People's financial status and/or 'lot in life' is a result of more than 'messing up in school' or making bad decisions. And unfortunately, in this country a person's race may play a larger role in this matter than it should In order to truly discuss anything, racism included, you must first agree with some basic truths or givens. For instance, it is a given that until the 1960s it was legal to discriminate against black people. It was also legal to provide black people with inferior educational facilities. Until the '70s it was legal to deny black people the right to live in certain neighborhoods, even if they could afford to live there.

Now given those truths, let's try to determine why a disadavantaged black person living in 1999 would blame 'the white man' for his or her position. First, the first significant laws banning discrimination were passed less than 40 years ago. That is not a lot of time to change the minds of people who imposed and/or supported those discriminatory laws in the first place. Those people and their offspring may be in positions of power (police officers, hiring managers, politicians, whatever) and may still harbor racist views. Secondly, since so many blacks were denied access to quality education (we could debate whether most Americans truly receive a 'quality' education, but for the sake of argument let's say it means learning a profession or proving that you were able to complete four years of college), it is reasonable to conclude that they would not have a well-paying job. Nor would they necessarily place an emphasis on their children's education. In many instances, children of disadvantaged households have to work (legal or illegal work) in order to supplement their parent(s) income. Even today, blacks who have the same educational and professional qualification as whites are paid less for doing the same job. Can you explain this? I can: Racism still exists. It doesn't mean we should give up and hate one another because of it, but we should all at least have the courage to admit the truth.

User Detail :  

Name : Tony, City : San Francisco, State : CA Country : United States, 

[John K.]

Actually, there is some truth in what you say, but you are leaving out some very important details. The reason that some nonwhites can claim that 'the white man' is to blame for nonwhite problems is historically very simple. In general, whites have dominated nonwhites in this country, through slavery, politics, economics, etc. This resulted in less opportunity and a distinct lack of equality. This has slowly been changing since the dawn of civil rights. However, the changes do not come quickly. Laws can help to shape society, but the attitudes and prejudices must change as well. That takes more time. Recent statistics have shown that nonwhites believe they have more opportunity than in the past, and other statistics show that the per capita household income for nonwhites continues to increase. Now to your point. There are a number of nonwhites who make very poor decisions and then wish to attribute those decisions and the resulting consequences on whites. Oddly enough, there are also many whites who make similar poor decisions who then attempt to blame their problems on nonwhites. Both positions are based in a lack of personal responsibility. No matter how many years of slavery preceded civil rights, it is not the white man's fault if a nonwhite refuses to go to school and get an education, thus resulting in a low-income job or unemployment. On the same token, white people with little or no education have no logical basis for blaming immigration for their lack of work.

User Detail :  

Name : John K., Gender : M, Age : 26, City : Cranford, State : NJ Country : United States, Occupation : Chemical Engineer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[John-L30511]

Why do some unfortunate African Americans blame "the white man" for many of their problems, such as financial status, where they live, etc., when actually it was their fault if they messed up in school or made a bad choice(s) early in life.

User Detail :  

Name : John-L30511, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Atheist, City : Detroit, State : MI Country : United States, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[James Blond]

Can you Imagine waking up to 6 siblings living in one house with two bedrooms one bathroom! Imagine living in a city where you are shuned because of where you live! Have you considered the possibility that people make decisions based on the quality of choices, and not whether it is right or wrong? Try considering growing up without those choices of right or wrong, but with the choices that are GIVEN to them! Try believing that a family cubiclized into a realm of dark decisions, and dank possibilities, are doomed to make decisions that are considered by most to be 'Wrong'. Sit high on your horse, and demean others, when you can not see the other side of the coin! The French Revolution was a a revolt by peasants who wanted their POVERTY to stop! 'SARCASM!' 'People of POVERTY chose to live where they live! 'People of POVERTY chose to work where they work! 'People of POVERTY chose to be what they are!!!!! 'BELOW STANDARDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Name : James Blond, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, Age : 31, City : Romulus, State : MI Country : United States, Occupation : International Freight forwarder, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Renata-G30137]

Why are so many black people who made the right choices in life still being discriminated against across the board in this society? Take a black woman like myself, who finished college, did and said all the right things and still finds herself consistently being 'color-qualified' over the telephone. You can hear ethnicity in people's voices, and hiring managers have called me, excited over my resume, and lost enthusiasm immediately when they heard my voice, promising to 'get back to me' to schedule an interview and never doing so. Why, when I go into law firms, are there only white paralegals, while all the blacks, even attorneys who passed the Bar exam, are still in the filing and document-coding departments? I graduated from paralegal school with three other blacks and four whites; of the four blacks, three years later, we have all given up on working in the legal field and are turning to IT. The four whites, who had no legal experience, are all working for attorneys and being paid well.

Why, when I walk into mortgage companies, are all the VPs white, even when there are black document preparation people who have been with the company for years who are older and know much more? Why are they working beneath college pukes who are still trying to figure out what they want to be in life? You focus on the blacks who 'mess up,' what about the ones who don't?

User Detail :  

Name : Renata-G30137, Gender : F, Race : Black/African American, City : Atlanta, State : GA Country : United States, 

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